OPINION: Ron Paul And Glenn Beck Promote White Right Wing Terrorism

Since the election of Barack Obama there have been several instances of “lone wolf” terrorism. The media has focused a lot of attention on the cases of Nidal Hasan, the army psychiatrist who killed 13 men in a Fort Hood shooting rampage, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who brought explosives onto a plain destined for Detroit.

After their incidents, there was a mad rush to find out what there ideologies were, both politically and religiously. Though both clearly had mental issues, the incidents were treated as politically motivated terror attacks.

Muslims and Africans aren’t the only people who have been involved in politically motivated attacks on the government. Since the election of Barack Obama, there has been a resurgence of white right wing politically motivated terrorism. Since Obama’s election we have had several white terrorists who were motivated by racism, hatred of the government and conspiracy theories.

Of the five major incidents of white terrorism, congressman Ron Paul directly influenced four of them. Paul’s promotion of conspiracies, paranoia and connections to racism has led to him being a magnet for lunatics, white supremacists and conspiracy theorists.

Poplawski was a very big conspiracy theorist, who believed that the government was being secretly run by Jews and that Obama wanted to take away his rights, specifically his right to bare arms. Here is an online rant he wrote:

the federal government, mainstream media, and banking system in these United States are strongly under the influence of — if not completely controlled by — Zionist interest. An economic collapse of the financial system is inevitable, bringing with it some degree of civil unrest if not outright balkanization of the continental US, civil/revolutionary/racial war . . . This collapse is likely engineered by the elite Jewish powers that be in order to make for a power and asset grab.

Poplawski believed in the same New World order conspiracy that led to McVeigh blowing up the Alfred P. Murrah building. His paranoia was further fueled by Ron Paul’s conspiracy code words, a hatred for Jews and African Americans. His act of shooting five police officers was not an act of common criminality or plain insanity, but conspiracy driven, politically motivated terrorism.

While Ron Pal cannot be blamed for Poplawski actions, his promotion of the New World Order conspiracy theory and quiet acceptance of white supremacy, combined with pro Ron Paul sites like Stormfront and Info Wars certainly had a role in Poplawski’s mindset. This is not to say that mental insanity did not play a role in his killing, but that his insanity was fueled by racism, paranoia and conspiracy theories.

Another Ron Paul supporter who would commit an act of terror was James Von Brunn, the man who open fired at the Holocaust museum, killing an African American security guard, Stephen Johns. Von Brunn was part of Ron Paul meet up group and would send emails attacking the IRS and the ATF, while supporting Ron Paul. Von Brunn had previously been arrested for kidnapping members of the Federal Reserve Board, one of Ron Paul’s frequent targets. Von Brunn seemed to have a similar anti-Semitic conspiracy theory to Papalowski and believed in a Illuminati group.

Here are some of Von Brunn’s anti-Semitic conspiracy writings.

The Henrik Holappa atrocity is a metaphor for the ILLUMINATI conquest of America: The ILLUMINATI, has captured America illegally, and is incarcerating her NOW into a Global Zionist state.

Well informed patriots are ignoring the URGENCY, the extreme DANGER confronting them. There is sparse time remaining. You must ACT NOW. KILL THE ENEMY OR DIE IN THE GULAG !

You want my weapons—this is how you’ll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America’s money. Jews control the mass media. The 1st Amendment is abrogated.

Another white terrorist, who was a fan of Ron Paul ideologies, is John Patrick Bedell. Bedell drove cross country from California to Washington D.C. with two semi-automatic weapons and wounded shooting two African American guards at the Pentagon in an act of anti government rage.

John Patrick Bedell was a Ron Paul style libertarian, who was a member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, an institute credited as being the driving force for Ron Paul’s political and economic philosophies, which was founded and run by Ron Paul’s former chief of staff and long time friend and companion, Lew Rockwell. Bedell would post on the Ludwig von Mises site about how government was criminal. Rockwell refers to the Pentagon as the Pentagram (evil satanic symbol) and subscribes to the John Birch society New World Order conspiracy theory.

Bedell himself was a conspiracy theorist, who believed that 9/11 was set up by the government. We can see how the combination of conspiracy theories and anti-government sentiment led to Bedell taking out his anger on what his hero, Lew Rockwell called the “pentagram.”

Charles Dyer is a man who never committed a violent act against the government but proudly proclaimed himself a “domestic terrorist.” Dyer was instead arrested on a domestic charge for allegedly raping a 7-year-old girl. While Dyer may or may not be guilty of that charge, he was definitely guilty of possessing a grenade launcher stolen from an army base. Police also found residue that led them to believe that he had been storing explosives.

Dyer was a member of the Oathkeepers, are a paramilitary organization comprised of former and current military and law enforcement members. The SPLC has said the Oathkeepers are concerned about a coming dictatorship, concentration camps and a general New World Order. The Oathkeepers are headed by Stewart Rhodes, a former Ron Paul staffer. They have received support from Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs and conspiracy theorist radio host, Alex Jones.

To Dyer’s credit, he is not a white supremacist. He would engage the racists on the white supremacist site, Stormfront and criticize their racism. However, Dyer seemed to be a full believer in the John Birch Society “New World Order Conspiracy.” While Dyer was not a white supremacist, he seems motivated by the same paranoid conspiracy based ideology that motivated Bedell, Von Brunn and Poplowski.

While their is no evidence that Joe Stack, the man who flew a plane into an IRS building in Texas supported Ron Paul or his ideologies, some from Ron Paul’s camp have supported Joe Stack. After the incident, Chuck Baldwin, a long time Paul supporter and the man Paul endorsed to be President in 2008 wrote on the Daily Paul website:

However, Mr. Stack apparently left behind a “suicide manifesto” explaining his actions. After carefully reading Stack’s manifesto, I am quite convinced that he was not crazy, and he was not a “terrorist.” However, he was angry.

A lot of us are angry–and for many of the same reasons that Mr. Stack was angry! While I would certainly take exception to some of the things Stack says in his manifesto, he said things that many of us are feeling.

The right wing must answer for the conspiracy theories and paranoia that drove Poplowski, Von Brunn and Bedell to violent acts against the and drove Dyer to purchase a stolen grenade launcher and explosives. The same combination of paranoia, conspiracy theories, mixed with a strong dash of racism led Timothy McVeigh to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah building.

When CPAC, the Think Tank credited with driving the Republican party, lets conspiracy minded organizations like the Oathkeepers and the John Birch Society sponsor their national convention, and declares conspiracy theory monger, Ron Paul their straw poll winner for the Presidential nomination, it is clear that these conspiracy theories are being tolerated by Republican party at the highest levels.

During a time of economic recession when many people are angry and scared already, the conspiracy theories are enough to make already unstable people filled with hated and paranoia; A hatred and paranoia that could easily turn to violence.

The media has been largely ignoring the New World Order, conspiracy Ron Paul connections to acts of terror, while focusing on Islamic terror. If James von Brunn was Jamil Val Bakar and posted anti-American and Israel sentiments on an Islamic Website before shooting up the Holocaust museum, surely Fox News and the mainstream media would make it a huge story.

Same with Paplowski. If he was posting on an radical Islamic site, not a white supremacist one, he would be branded a cop killing Islamic terrorist. If Bedell was fan of a radical Muslim cleric or belonged to a mosque that preached hatred against the American government, he would have been branded an Islamic terrorist and the White House would be blamed for not stopping him before he went to the Pentagon with automatic weapons.

Politicians like Ron Paul and media types like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck are as guilty of drumming up paranoia and anger at the American government as Islamic clerics who refer to America as the great Satan only to see their followers turn to terrorism. Fox News, CPAC, and the Tea Party movement must all be held accountable for the conspiracy theories and anti-government hatred and paranoia that leads people directly into violence.